Trump is like a medieval king, former UK ambassador to US says

The former UK ambassador to the US has delivered a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump, describing the President as a “medieval King”.

Lord Kim Darroch accused the American leader of turning the “Oval Office into a reality TV set”.

The former diplomat was forced to quit his role in 2019 during Mr Trump’s first term after leaked briefings showed him describing the President’s government as “dysfunctional”, “inept” and “divided”.

Speaking to broadcaster Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Lord Darroch defended the letter, which he said was a result of then prime minister David Cameron urging him to be honest and direct.

He told the audience in Scotland’s capital that his comments were borne out by Mr Trump’s actions as president.

‘Unpredictable’

The former ambassador said Mr Trump was ultimately an unpredictable leader as he cited the numerous firings of top officials by the president, the various changes to his tariff policies and the recent move to place nuclear submarines near Russia.

“He’s sort of like a medieval king – that sort of capricious decision-making – than he is like a modern politician where consistency is seen as important,” he said.

“He doesn’t think that’s important at all. He thinks that every day is a fresh day. You’re basically battling with media.

“You’re battling with your opponents. If it suits you today to reverse something you did last week, just do it.

“If you look at tariffs, that’s a perfect example of unpredictability of capriciousness.”

Reality TV

Lord Darroch suggested that Mr Trump’s style stemmed from his time on the US version of The Apprentice.

“Donald Trump was made by reality TV,” he said, describing him as “the American version of Alan Sugar”.

He added: “He learned a lot about how to present himself from reality TV.

“I think he’s now literally turned the Oval Office into a reality TV set.”

During his discussion with Mr Dale, the former diplomat praised the Prime Minister’s handling of foreign policy, including his relationship with the US President.

He told the broadcaster: “So far, against a lot of predictions, Keir Starmer has proved himself really quite an adept Trump whisperer.

“He’s done some clever things, including phoning Trump up after the assassination attempt – that was a clever thing to do, going to see him to sort of kiss the ring before the election.”

The peer said the Labour leader had been better on foreign policy than domestic policy, but warned the PM there were “not many votes in foreign policy”.

Russian Invasion

Asked about defence, Lord Darroch suggested the UK would not be able to cope with a Russian invasion, although he said the chances of that were low.

“The truth is I don’t think we are close,” he said. “I do think it’s less distant than it was five years ago.

“I do think the important point really is that we are woefully underprepared.”

Lord Darroch has been outspoken in his criticism of Mr Trump since he was forced to quit his stateside role. Mr Trump had criticised him as as a “stupid guy” and a “pompous fool”.